


Virgil's Birthday 2020

by HedwigsTalons, WillowDragonCat



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Birthdays, F/M, Family Feels, Surprises, realtionships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25903582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedwigsTalons/pseuds/HedwigsTalons, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowDragonCat/pseuds/WillowDragonCat
Summary: It's Virgil's birthday and the family are determined that this year he should get a proper celebration.
Relationships: John Tracy/Original Characters, John Tracy/Selene Tempest, Virgil Tracy/Claire Ashwell, Virgil Tracy/Original Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Virgil's Birthday 2020

**Author's Note:**

> A collaborative effort between HedwigsTalons and WillowDragonCat unleashing the combined might of their OCs on the Tracy family. Claire is from HedwigsTalons' Tracy Prize AU while Selene is normally found in WillowDragonCat's Opposites Attract AU (I say 'normally' because Selene very much has a life of her own and will pop up wherever and whenever she wants).
> 
> And yes, the chosen venue is a real place.

Selene could not believe her eyes. It was wholly unexpected to see that while using a clients bathroom. She needed a second opinion.

“John?” she held her comm in her outstretched hand and pressed the little crystal in the center to connect her to the I.T guy in the sky.

“Is there a reason you’re calling me from the bathroom? Because I love you, but this might be a step too far in your theory that sharing is caring.”

“Hush, this is important, the location isn’t.”

“The bathroom isn’t important? I thought you were visiting a client. Did you at least wash your hands?”

He got a middle finger flip for his attitude but as ever remained unphased.

“You know we’re struggling to find something for the big guy’s birthday?”

“It’s the same every year, with every brother, you’re lucky you only have one.”

“Oh, sure, because I have nothing to do with yours, they are nothing to me, ” she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, just answer me one question.”

“Sure, what is it?”

She turned her comm so he could see through the door opposite the toilet she was currently sitting on, with her pants up, thank you very much, to the hall beyond.

“Is that what I think it is?”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“Can you take me closer?”

She nodded even though he couldn't see it and got up, moving closer.

She heard him sigh softly, confirming her suspicions.

“Make them an offer, pay anything you have to.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say. I’m on it.”

“Thank you, call me back as soon as you can.”

“Will do, babe.”

His hologram blinked out and she tucked the necklace back down inside her top and left the room, preparing to do battle. She was not leaving the house empty handed.

******

Claire distractedly twirled a strand of hair while gazing unseeingly at the tablet screen in front of her. She had been scrolling for what felt like an age but nothing was grabbing her attention. Despite all his assurances that it really didn’t matter she wanted to get this right. In fact, all his reassurances that he really didn’t need anything just made her all the more determined to find the perfect gift. Birthdays should be about things you want, not things you need and Claire knew that what she wanted was to show how much he meant to her; self-sacrificing idiot that he was.

“Anything I can help with?”

Claire almost dropped the tablet as she was jolted out of her musings. She must have been seriously distracted to not hear Gordon coming. If any of the brothers knew how to make an entrance it was him, his personality preceded him like a force of nature.

“Unless you know what to get a billionaire for his birthday I think I’m a lost cause” she groaned. Virgil’s birthday was drawing ever closer and she still hadn’t settled on a gift; what on earth did you get for a man that wasn’t materialistic in the slightest and if he did want anything could buy it without hesitation? 

“Tell me about it, I mean of all my brothers he has got to be the worst to buy for." He crossed over and picked up the tablet, giving the search history a cursory glance  
"No. No. Did that two years ago. Already got one. Hmm...that has potential.”

“What? Which one?”

The tablet was slid back in front of her, the promising tab left open on the screen. It was the one thing that had really grabbed her but she'd almost written it off as impossible.

“You really think I can make that happen? I mean, look at it, it's the other side of the world for goodness sake” 

He treated her to a look that reminded her of exactly which family she was dealing with. Nothing was impossible when the Tracys were involved.

“Ppfft, what's a few timezones between friends. Seriously, the big guy will love it. You’ll need to clear the dates you want with Scott first but we’re all entitled to some time off now and again. You could arrange it for the day before his birthday, maybe thrown in an overnight." 

Now that was a suggestion Claire could happily get behind, despite the suggestive waggling of eyebrows that showed exactly where Gordon's mind had headed. Days off for the operatives of International Rescue were rare, but whole nights were even rarer. The thought of some quality time together away from the demands of the world sounded perfect.

“Thanks Gordon, I might just do that.”

She chose to ignore the smirk that was aimed at her as she reviewed the page, making sure she had all the details straight. There was no point going to Scott before she knew exactly what she was asking for. Things were looking brighter though, Virgil deserved a good birthday and hopefully her gift would go some way towards that.

****** 

Virgil was suspicious. At least three of his brothers were up to something and he wanted to know what.

“You’re up to something and I want to know what,” he demanded at breakfast.

Scott, who had been in the process of stealing a slice of toast from Selene’s plate stopped for a second, looked vaguely guilty, then shrugged and took it anyway. Gordon paused in his searching of the refrigerator and Alan sat on his tablet, whistling innocently. John, being John wasn’t even there but if he had been he’d no doubt be looking just as shifty.

“There’s nothing going on,” Scott assured him, biting into his stolen bounty.

“Hey!” Selene swiped at him but he deftly avoided her unwarranted attack.

“I don’t believe you,” he told them, looking towards Claire for back up. “What am I missing?”

“And I thought I was the suspicious one?” she said, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, why are you so twitchy?”

“Because I’ve known these guys long enough to know when they are plotting something and I mean to find out what it is. Last time Alan looked this guilty he’d spilt a chocolate milkshake on the console in Two.”

Alan gave a muffled squawk about needing to find something from his room and dashed from the kitchen. If Virgil got determined with the questioning he just knew he would crack, plus he really didn’t need the reminder of earlier misdemeanours. Gordon removed his head from the refrigerator just long enough to watch the youngest Tracy disappear like a scalded cat. Amateur. Now Virgil would know for certain there was a mystery afoot.

Scott glanced at Selene from his spot behind Virgil, raising one eyebrow, just for a second but it was enough for her, they were almost as good at communicating non verbally as he was with Virgil. Queen of bullshit was up.

“Fine,” she huffed, letting her half eaten toast drop back to the plate. “You want to know what’s going on, I’ll tell you, but don’t start moaning when the surprise is ruined.”

“Surprise?” 

“Yeah,” Scott agreed, “surprise for your birthday.” He nodded at Selene, passing the baton back, he had no idea what she was going to say.

“My birthday?” Virgil grinned, pleased that they hadn’t forgotten this year.

“Well, the thing is,” she picked up her coffee cup and took a sip, the most casual thing in the world, “we’ve been talking and honestly, we all thought that we’re too busy and getting a bit old for the stupidness we usually resort to. So this year we thought we’d do something a bit more mature and a bit more you.”

Virgil frowned, not really liking where this was going, who had ever said he was mature?

“So,” Selene continued, ignoring the look on his face as best she could, not wanting to crack and feel sorry for him. “We thought you’d be more comfortable with a nice, quiet meal at home, some time to open your gifts and just have a chill day.”

“Oh,” Virgil started, trying to hide the disappointment he felt. A quiet meal at home, that was what they thought of him? He knew he was the slow and steady one, but he didn’t think he’d gone all the way to being boring. It was rather insulting. “That sounds great," he assured them, managing to keep his tone as pleasant as possible, "as long as we’re all together, that’s all that matters. But why all the secrecy and plotting?”

“Oh, don’t worry, you’re not just getting a meal, is he, Claire? We were going to keep it as a surprise while we finalised dates.”

“It was meant to be a secret but as you say, you can read your family like a book. Scott’s cleared you off the roster so we can go away for a night, I found something I thought you might like but, well, it involves a trip away.”

“Oh?” Virgil’s curiosity was piqued, “so when do I get this mystery trip?”

“I got lucky and managed to arrange it pretty close to the actual day. We leave the morning before and get back on the evening of your birthday in time for the meal.”

“So...we go tomorrow?” A grin had spread over his face ”Do I need to pack anything special?”

“Nothing special. Although if you insist on only packing the plaid our choice of meal options in the evening might be a little limited. I’ll let you pick how fancy you want to go, just let me know so I can match otherwise I’ll be sticking to my jeans.”

“Okay. Uh, what climate?”

“Does it matter? I mean, you’re the one that can live in flannel and work boots on a tropical island. But seeing as it’s kinda out in the open now, we’re off to France.”

A swift kiss was planted on the top of Claire’s head before Virgil bounded off to throw a few things into a bag, looking for all the world like an excited puppy. Just because he was off duty tomorrow and the day after he knew he was still very much on call until then and at the mercy of rescues that could be called in at any point, the last thing he wanted was to delay the trip even five minutes because he wasn’t packed.

There was a collective sigh around the kitchen.

“So, do you think he bought it?”

******

The second Claire and Virgil departed the Island in one of the private civilian planes they kept for those rare times they needed to be inconspicuous, the lounge erupted into a storm of activity.

“Right, we have one day, count it people, one, to get this shit sorted!” Selene barked, taking over the holoprojector with what Gordon was secretly calling the list from hell.

“You’ve all had your jobs to do, now is the time to admit if you screwed anything up.”

Silence, not even crickets. 

“Gordon, you were in charge of the food, what have you arranged?”

“Taco party,” he answered promptly.

“And they will deliver to the venue? You have checked with the venue, right?”

Scott nodded, that was his job. Selene had given him his orders of where to hire and he’d provided the credit card with no limit. “Yes, no problem at all, with what we’re paying them they said we could do whatever we wanted.”

“Sweet. Allie, you were in charge of the theme, you good?”

“Yep, Gordon helped and we got some awesome supplies.”

“Perfect,” she ticked off another item on her list. “You all sorted your own gifts, didn’t you?”

They all nodded dutifully.

“John, you hacked his playlists and sent them to the venue to make sure the DJ knows exactly what to play?”

“Sent them last week,” he confirmed.

“And Grandma, you ordered the cake from his favorite bakery?”

“Same as every year,” she nodded. “It’s his birthday, I won't make him suffer my cooking.”

“Jeff, have you finalised the arrangements with the local airfield? We’re gonna need it.”

“All done.”

“Kay, you made sure that everyone that is involved in this has been cleared through our security and has signed non disclosures?”

She nodded. “They won’t say a word to anyone if they know what’s good for them.”

Selene crossed the last item off the list, looking shocked as she looked up at them. 

“Guys, I think we’re done. Thunderbirthday is go.”

******

“So, did you enjoy it all?”

“Enjoy it? Of course I did, I can’t believe you managed to arrange all that.” It still hurt him sometimes to hear the hesitancy and worry in Claire’s voice. He knew they were a pretty formidable family to join the ranks of and while Selene had managed to launch right in, Claire had taken longer to find her place amongst them on a personal level. He reached across the cockpit and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “Honestly, it was one of the best things I’ve done in a long time.”

Claire gave him a smile in return. Professionally she had always had the confidence in her own abilities but when it came to opening herself up personally she was far less sure. Virgil seemed happy enough with her though, flaws and all.

“I mean, some of those works have been in private collections for years and who knows when the owners will next put them on display. And then the lesson afterwards, I’ve got so many new techniques that I want to try when I next get studio time.”

Well Virgil certainly seemed happy with his birthday trip. In the end she had decided against a traditional gift, everything had seemed too trite, too superficial, too meaningless for the solid Tracy beside her who could never be accused of being materialistic. Instead she had opted for a trip to an exhibition at a private gallery followed by an impressionism lesson on the banks of the Seine. Virgil was always keen to learn and despite his already considerable skill with a paintbrush was not too proud to admit there were areas he could improve upon. The overnight stay in Paris, which gave them rare time alone, had been a bonus that the couple had taken full advantage of.

“Just a shame you have to do all the flying, it hardly seems a proper break if you have to be your own taxi service.” Claire’s status as the only island resident unable to pilot a plane was a situation that they all knew needed to change, it was just a case of finding the time around their busy schedules.

“I don’t mind, I’d much rather this than have one of my brothers tagging along so stop worrying. And we’ll get you your licence soon enough.” 

The comm on the center console beeped announcing an incoming message, halting their conversation.

John’s voice floated out of the comm.

“Virgil, sorry to interrupt when you’re not on rotation, but we have a situation.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, something John wouldn’t see because he had neglected to activate the holographic projection. Seriously, he had two nights off, just two and the world was inconsiderate enough to not stop turning so he could have a complete break.

“What’s the problem, Thunderbird Five?” he answered, reverting easily to rescue mode.

“I wouldn’t have disturbed you if there was any other option,” John started.

“I know,” Virgil assured him.

“You’re needed for some heavy lifting, unfortunately you’re the only one that fits your exosuit. Alan and Gordon are flying Two over, following Scott and they’ll meet you there.”

“Where are we heading?”

“Sending the coordinates now.”

A series of numbers, in the international fix system that every organization used, flashed up on the screen before him. He frowned as he mentally pinpointed the area.

“Auckland? That’s practically our backyard.” Virgil had already begun to correct his course, following the auto navigation system.

“Yes, thankfully it’s nothing too serious, but the authorities can’t deal with it in a timely manner. Five workers are trapped in a section of the old underground Metro system, they were carrying out repairs to the foundations when a section of the ceiling caved in. As you know they have become a place of historical interest, meaning they are being preserved for future generations to-”

“History lesson later, John. Are any of them hurt?”

“Thankfully, no. They were all far enough away from the collapse site that they were safe, but they are trapped and have nothing with them in the way of provisions. The local authority said they might be able to dig them out but that would take time that they don’t really have. We can’t risk the mole as it could collapse the tunnel further and weaken the foundations of the buildings above it, endangering more lives.”

“Yeah, I get it. Unfortunately we’re still a few hours out but we’ll get there as soon as we can.”

“FAB, Thunderbird T- Tracy Two,” John corrected himself. “Oh, and Happy Birthday, I’ll try to be home when you get back.” The comm clicked off, indicating he’d gone.

“Sorry about this,” Virgil huffed, turning to look at Claire. “This isn’t how I planned to spend the rest of my birthday.”

******

John turned off his comm and took the drink Selene handed him, making a face when he saw the little umbrella that garnished it. It was also a garish shade of blue and smelt as strong as Virgil’s paintbrush cleaner. This wasn’t going to be good.

“Did he suspect anything?”

“Not a thing, you know Virgil, always ready to jump in and help,” he took an experimental sip of the drink and almost choked, finding it as vile as he had suspected. Whoever had let Gordon behind the bar was going to regret it. He set it on a nearby table and went in search of a beer.

“He’s going to be so confused when he gets here,” Alan grinned, fiddling with his hat, which had fallen down over his eyes.

“He’s either going to love this or hate it,” Scott said, his eyes roaming the bar area in which they sat, coming to a stop on the tables where the food would soon be laid out. “He’d better hurry up, I’m getting hungry.”

“Your stomach will survive a little longer,” Selene laughed, “I’m sure he won’t be long. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to keep John company and make sure he doesn’t vanish.” 

******

Virgil brought Tracy Two in to land at the airfield John had directed him too. The runway was suspiciously quiet, no Thunderbird Two, no little brother waiting in a handy pod vehicle to whisk him off to the rescue zone, nothing.

“Come in Thunderbird Five” He knew John would have been tracking his approach, relaying his ETA to his brothers on the ground, so the lack of welcoming party was a worry. Surely John would have told him if something had gone wrong on the rescue. The sooner he could get to the danger zone, suit up and pitch in, the better.

“Go ahead Tracy Two.” John’s voice flooded the cockpit.

“Situation update. Where are Alan or Gordon?”

“Ah, still needed on site. But Lady Penelope was coming for your birthday meal, I’ll have Parker divert and pick you up.”

“FAB”

Virgil cut the connection and turned to Claire. “Not my usual mode of arrival but needs must. Once he’s dropped me off I’ll get him to take you to a hotel somewhere. You never can tell how long a rescue will take so you may as well be comfortable.”

It wasn’t many minutes before the distinctive pink Rolls Royce rolled onto the apron. Virgil was at the door in flash before Parker could do his duty and open it, much to the disgruntlement of the chauffeur.

“Thanks for this, Parker.”

“H’your welcome, Master Virgil. Master John ‘as h’already briefed me of the situation.”

“Lady Penelope” he greeted the aristocrat who graced the rear seats as he gestured for Claire to enter before sliding into the final space himself, “thank you. This is Claire. Claire, meet Lady Penelope.”

“My pleasure Virgil, and Happy Birthday. I’m delighted to finally meet you, Claire. I must say you were something of an enigma, Kayo was quite perplexed.”

“Pleased to meet you too, Lady Penelope.” Claire wasn’t quite sure how to behave around the elegant lady who she only knew through pictures and reputation. The dainty form and impeccable manners perfectly masked the core of steel that she knew International Rescue’s London agent had and she was hit by the sudden reminder that the blonde next to her probably knew as much about her as any of them, despite having never met in person.

“Please, call me Penelope. Seeing as it looks like you and I will be spending the evening together I think we can dispense with some of the formalities.”

“I’m so sorry about this Lady Penelope.”

“Nonsense Virgil, duty calls. I’m well aware that you and the world have little regard for the social calendar and I’m sure Claire here does too. Now, we’ll soon be with your brothers and then Claire and I can get to know each other properly while we wait for you.”

If Claire hadn't already been in on the plan she would have been terrified by this prospect. As it was, she was able to sit back and wait for the evening to unfold.

******

The car purred it’s way towards the city centre, the site of the old Metro tunnel and, more importantly, the site of the chosen venue.

John checked Virgil’s location on his comm, seeing FAB One cruising steadily closer. “They’re almost here,” he announced. “I’d estimate their ETA as four minutes.”

“Four minutes? Selene shrieked, suddenly going into panic mode even though everything was already done. John was wise enough not to even attempt to calm her down, it was a battle he had lost many times before and he had always been one to learn from his mistakes eventually. 

“Is the food ready? All set out?” she demanded to know, receiving quick affirmatives from the caterers who were now busying themselves with uncovering the dishes and opening up the insulated bowls that were keeping the hot food hot and the cold food cool.

“Music ready to go?”

John nodded. “The DJ is in the other room but the music will be piped in here through the speakers as requested.” Selene narrowed her eyes, debating as to whether she detected a slight hint of tone in his voice. Nope, she decided, he wouldn't dare, plus she didn’t have time to worry about that now. She nodded and darted past, intent on tracking down Scott who had vanished to parts unknown. 

She needed distracting, John decided, his arm shooting out, catching her wrist as she passed. She jerked to a stop, allowing him to tug her into his arms, accepting the kiss he dropped on her nose. “You’re verging on hysterical again,” he warned her softly, ignoring the way she stiffened in his embrace. “You’re allowed to enjoy yourself too.”

“I know,” she sighed, deflating. “I just want it to be perfect, you know? He deserves it.”

“I know, but you’re still going to need to relax at some point, so maybe a tad sooner rather than later?” he tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her head to steal a kiss, distracting had its benefits. 

“I will when he gets here and I know that no fucker is gonna mess anything up,” she offered as a compromise, kissing him again before she something caught her attention, her eyes locking onto one of the bar staff that had just dropped a bucket of ice on the floor.

“Deal, you have two minutes, go nuts.”

“Two minutes people!” she hollered at the top of her lungs, almost deafening him. He quickly dropped his arms and let her escape.

Alan and Gordon had located Scott somewhere and even managed to get a hat on him as well as Jeff, although Kayo and Grandma were refusing to even think about it and Brains was hiding in terror.

They had tried to keep the number of guests relatively small but still they had managed to amass a number of people. The family was obviously there, Penelope and Parker would be, Grandma had invited Kip Harris and Jeff had invited Lee Taylor and Colonel Casey, while Scott had been in charge of inviting some of Virgil’s college friends, those rescuees that kept in touch, and a few people from their hometown. Alan had invited Brandon, though John was sure he’d only done that to annoy Scott, though for some reason Virgil seemed to like the young man, John had no idea why. Brains had invited Moffie and even The Mechanic had been persuaded to join in.

“One minute!”

“Actually, Parker must have put his foot down a little, because they’re -”

The door opened and everyone leapt to attention, yelling at the top of their lungs.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

******

Lack of panic and suspicious absence of anything resembling a Thunderbird alerted Virgil that all was not what it seemed when the car finally drew to a halt.

“Uh Parker, are you sure you’ve got this right?”

“Quite h’right Master Virgil. This is the h’location I was given by Master John h’and Miss Selene" assured the chauffeur as he opened the door and assisted Lady Penelope out.

Selene. As soon as the witch was mentioned he knew full well that there would be no rescue tonight. Nor, judging by the sounds of the muffled music emanating through the closed doors of the venue, would there be a quiet family meal. He glanced at the two ladies, one either side of him; Penelope was completely unfazed by the development while Claire radiated nervous anticipation. Neither was surprised so it looked like he was the only one not in on the secret.

"Well then" he said, offering his arms to Claire and Lady Penelope, "best head inside."

As soon as the doors were opened a flurry of activity greeted them. Virgil was amazed at the friends and family congregated before him, a party having been completely off his radar after the trip to Paris. To have one birthday surprise go to plan was unusual, to have two was unheard of. He just hoped the rescues held off for a little longer so he could actually enjoy it.

A glass containing something lurid and sticky was placed in his hands by a grinning Gordon which he managed to swiftly deposit on a handy ledge on the pretext of needing his hands to greet people. The neon drink lay abandoned to be replaced by a more sensible beer at the first opportunity Virgil could get; he'd encountered Gordon's bar experiments before and it was an experience he didn't want to repeat.

In a lull he sought out Selene and wrapped her in a bear hug.

"I gather a lot of this was your doing, thank you."

"Meh" she shrugged when she finally broke free of his embrace,"you deserve it. And it wasn't just me, everyone had a hand in this. So how was Paris?"

"It was amazing. Did you have a hand in that too?"

"Nope, that was all Claire."

He looked across to where Claire was in the midst of fending off Alan who was making valiant attempts to place a hat on her head. She almost succeeded in escaping hatless until Gordon rushed to his younger sibling's aid, pinning the chemist's arms to her sides, allowing the young astronaut to crown her with a slam dunk.

"I think I've found a good one there" he sighed as he watched Claire enact her retaliation on Gordon despite his futile attempts to hide. "I mean, you know yourself this family comes as a package and it's a lot for anyone to take on."

"Oh, I do indeed," she nodded, smiling as she watched John, his face a perfect picture of martyrdom as he listened to Lee Taylor tell him all about space while calling him Jake, James and for some reason, Fred. 

"I think we need to rescue our good ones," she sighed dramatically, although both knew it wasn't much of a hardship. They wished each other good luck and dove back into the fray. 

******  
"Hey, smart girl! Over here!" Selene waved a drink in Claire's direction in greeting. "I summon thee with the power of cider!" Selene had successfully rescued John from Lee and had managed to keep him safe for more than half an hour before he was stolen away again while on his return trip from the bathroom, she had now given him up as a lost cause. He was done for. 

That always happened when you went anywhere with one Tracy let alone an entire pack of them, everyone wanted to speak to them, everyone wanted a piece of them, hell she was lucky she'd managed to keep him for that long. She'd headed to the bar after tipping Gordon's latest offering into a potted plant and seen that Claire seemed to be having the same issues as her. Girly solidarity, chicks before dicks had won out and she'd gone on a mission of mercy, calling her over and away from the tender mercies of the wild pack of party guests, many of whom Claire had never even met. Plus, Selene admitted to herself, she was curious as to how Claire and Virgil's first night away together had been. 

Claire grabbed the drink gratefully "At last! Gordon keeps trying to give me something with cherries on a stick. I swear he has mixed more chemicals tonight than I do. I'm never letting him loose in the labs unsupervised."

"A wise move," Selene nodded. "I let him help me make candles once, never again. I've no idea how one boy can be so messy and spontaneous with his ingredients." She gulped down a few mouthfuls of her own drink. "Soooo, how was the trip?" Selene probably didn't need to add the suggestive eyebrow wiggles to get her point across, her tone had done the job well enough. "Did you have a good time? Let me live vicariously through you because mine will barely leave space long enough to take me anywhere, plus we've been together too long now, we're boring."

"We did. The romantic spin is that we had a lovely picnic by the river and a candlelit dinner."

"Translation?"

"Virgil got so engrossed at the gallery I had to chuck a sandwich down his throat as we ran along the banks to the painting lesson. We then ordered room service and the bulb blew in our room so we lit all the ornamental candles while waiting for maintenance to find a new one."

"Awww," her hand fluttered over her heart, "such romance, much wow, almost brings a tear to my eye. Did he suspect anything about the party? Did we succeed in our mission?" 

"Didn't suspect a thing, he honestly thought we were heading back to the island. But to be fair he was pretty distracted during the trip and not just by the art, let's just say maintenance ended up leaving the bulb outside in the hall for us."

"Oooo, that's my girl!" Selene hip bumped her and cackled evilly for a few seconds before sobering. "That's good though, he needs a break, he works far too hard, they all do. John's a nightmare, trying to get him to take a break is like trying to stop Armstrong chasing the laser pointer. Impossible." 

"Honestly, if it wasn't his birthday I doubt I could have persuaded Virgil to step down for so long. I can understand it, I mean I know well enough that the phrase 'normal working week' just doesn't apply, but sometimes I feel they only rest when injured and even then they don't switch off. The job is part of who they are. It was nice to see him so relaxed and focussed on other things."

Selene nodded, understating completely."For me the best thing is actually seeing John sleeping, then all his stress lines smooth out and he actually looks peaceful and relaxed for once. And he's still, that's a big one for him, he never stops moving."

Claire looked across at the Tracy she saw the least of. True he was Earthside more often now, Selene helped see to that, but still her path rarely crossed with John's. Compared the frenetic energy of Gordon or the constant buzz of Scott she'd always thought of John as the calm one but Selene was right, he was like a merekat on the alert scanning the room for threats. And even if his body was still his mind wasn't.

"I can knock you up some decent sedatives if you want" she offered, smirking over the top of her glass.

Selene snorted. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll stick with my tried and tested methods of feminine wiles and good oral skills."

There was a splutter as a mouthful of cider went the wrong way. "Somehow I don't think you mean you sweet talk him off to sleep."

"You know me so well," she sniggered, then grinned sweetly at John when he glanced in their direction, as if summoned by her words. His eyes narrowed suspiciously and she blew him a kiss in return. "I swear, sometimes I think he's the psychic, not me. He's got a radar for this shit." 

"Well you chose the one who speaks non-verbal communication" a frown as she replayed the sentence, "well, you know what I mean." She looked at the glass in her hand, now nearly empty owing to her tendency to down things quickly, she never had grasped taking her time over a drink. "Are you sure it's just cider in here?"

"Oh yeah, it's just cider, you're just high on love, same as me. It makes us stupid while it just makes them hotter. Unfair really," she knocked back the last of her bottle. "I think we're gonna need more."

"Agreed, on both fronts." She looked sideways at the witch who always seemed so confident. "Do you ever worry that you aren't, well, worthy of them?" She dropped to what amounted to little more than a whisper in the noisy venue "Because I do."

"Only every day of my life," Selene groaned. "Look at them, just look! They are the most amazing, perfect people in the entire world. John could have anyone he wanted, someone totally and utterly perfect for him, someone that shares his interests and does the same things as him, instead he struck out and ended up with me. Poor bastard." Selene sighed, staring at the empty bottle in her hand as if she could fill it up again through sheer will power. "I worry that he's going to wake up one day and completely regret ever talking to me in the first place, not that he had much of a choice, it's his job after all. I worried a lot at first, like I was going to put him off like I have done everyone else, like he was just hanging around until a better offer came along. I tempered myself so much for other people that by the time he came into my life, I refused to do that again, he could take me as I was or not at all. The idiot actually seems to like me and wants to stick around, the why is a complete mystery, but I'm not going to argue. Doesn't mean I don't still worry though."

"And Virgil is the all round nice guy. He's creative, he's smart, he rescued a kitten for goodness sake. I mean he's like some sort of poster boy. It also gives my work that whole other edge, okay every life is important but if I screw up now it's him specifically that would get hurt, him and his brothers."

"Oh, boy, are we definitely gonna need more alcohol, hang on." Selene trotted off to the bar to relieve them of some of their cider stash, coming back to find that Claire had found a seat at a table a little away from the main party area and she happily joined her. John glanced over, taking two steps forward as if to join them at the table but she shook her head briefly and he took the hint, diverting towards Scott. 

"Right, what were we saying?" 

"Me. Him. Not worthy. I think that about sums it up". She groaned and dropped her head onto folded arms, raising it again to take a long pull on the drink that had appeared in front of her. She scanned the room and spotted the object of her despair in animated conversation with Kip. 

"Okay, I'll ask you what John asked me. And that is, don't you think it's up to them to decide who is worthy or not? Because they aren't stupid and they know what they want, they always do. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals and they always get what they want, and they want us. We just have to trust them, hard as that is when we have these ever present self doubts. When a Tracy says something, they mean it. So, when John tells me he loves me, I believe him, how could I not? And, if I'm really being honest with myself, I know that I've never doubted him for a second, it's my insecurities talking, not anything he's done to make me think that way and I refuse to let memories of other people encroach on what we have now."

"You're right, of course. No one could accuse them of being fools. It just still feels a bit surreal sometimes. I go from scratching around for research funding to working in an absolute dream set up, and then to cap it all Virgil Tracy of all people actually shows an interest in me." 

"Well, if there's one thing I know about Virgil, it's that he's got good taste."

"True, he ditched Gordon's concoction without even taking a sip, sensible man. You know, I think I can still taste the cherry, and, not sure, maybe lime" she grimaced and finished off the rest of the cider, shaking her head when Selene offered a refill. 

"Yeah, probably wise to wait and get some food in our bellies first, plus, I think John needs rescuing again. I swear, I leave him alone for two minutes and he gets himself caught by someone who hasn't seen him in a year. He'll never escape on his own." She got to her feet, taking her still half full bottle with her." You gonna be OK with all these people?"

"Yeah, thanks. I might go speak to Kip myself now that Virgil's moved on. I think I might be able to improve our set up for oil fires but would like his take on the idea."

Selene responded with a good-natured roll of her eyes. "This is why you fit him, you're both always thinking about work." She waved a hand in farewell and headed over to rescue her man. 

She grabbed John by the hand and whipped him away with a brief "sorry, I just need to borrow him for a few minutes, there's a cheese emergency" much to the disbelief of the man who had cornered him. 

"Thank you," he sighed in relief, dropping his head to her shoulder. "Everything okay with you two?" Ever observant, that was her John. She should have realised he'd want to know why she'd indicated for him to stay away. 

"Yep," she answered, turning her head to kiss his cheek. "Just girl talk."

"Should I be worried?" 

"Only every day, babe," she patted his arm where it had snuck around her waist. "But in this, no. It's all good, I promise." He nodded, accepting her answer. "Come on, time to eat." 

Claire wound her way through the crowd, intent on tracking down the man who, in Virgil's eyes at least, was a living legend. Selene was right, she mused, the Tracys were some of the most genuine people she had ever met. She'd been hurt so many times before by people who turned out to not be what they seemed and it had left her quick to doubt people's motivations. She had to remind herself that Virgil wasn't like that, if he was content to let her into his life she had to trust the honesty of his feelings. She knew she'd fallen for him hard and if she was honest with herself that prospect scared her as much as anything.

She never made it as far as Kip. As she was trying to negotiate her way round a cluster of people her hand was grasped by one much larger than her own. She turned, only to find herself pinned by the familiar brown eyed gaze she'd come to love, the brows slightly pinched with worry.

"Are you okay? I haven't seen you for a while and I know crowds aren't your thing."

"I'm fine" she reassured him, stretching up to give him a quick kiss "I can take care of myself, I don't need you to hold my hand you know."

"I know that. He glanced down to where his fingers were entwined with hers, his features smoothing out to a goofy grin. "So...can I hold it cos I want to?"

She didn't bother to answer that, just gave the calloused digits a reassuring squeeze, feeling a warmth spread through her at his simple affection. "Come on, I've lost sight of Kip so we may as well eat. Have you had anything yet?"

"Not yet, I've been too busy catching up with people."

Claire rolled her eyes, knowing that in all honesty she was no better herself, and led him towards the buffet table. 

******

Selene and John were already at the taco bar, loading up their plates when Claire and Virgil arrived. It had proved very popular, even with those people that had seemed hesitant at first and so there wasn't as big a selection left when they eventually reached it. Either one by one or in small groups, people had wandered over and dived in, filling up their taco shells or soft tortillas with any combination they fancied, salad, meats, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, hummus, and anything else they could pile on.

Selene had moved on to water, declaring that she wasn't risking drinking any more that evening but by that time Gordon had given up on his one man quest to become a champion drinks slinger, so she was probably safe. He'd presented Penelope with a bright pink drink that he'd concocted just for her which, under the influence of his puppy dog eyes, she had sipped and then promptly ran away to the bathroom to politely spit it out. He'd given up after that. 

Alan had managed to talk Virgil into wearing one of the sombrero hats that were the theme of the night, declaring that he had to as it was his birthday, but he'd lost it over an hour ago, leaving his hair a bit flatter than he would have liked had he been anywhere near sober, which he thankfully wasn't.

He'd loved his piñata and it had only taken him a few good swings of the baseball bat to smash the thing to pieces, releasing a rainfall of cheap and fun art supplies and his favourite candies. 

Now he was fed and rolling nicely from merry to drunk, it was time to reveal the final, and in Selene's humble opinion, best surprise. 

At Scott's signal the venue owners pushed open the double doors that led from the VIP bar area they were in to the main area of the club.

The sunken dance floor was covered up past waist height with plastic balls, creating the largest adult ball pit in the country. The music was louder there, the DJ’s booth surrounded by holoscreens, static screens and a jumble of flashing lights and shiny surfaces created an impressive futuristic look, almost like the inside of a cheesy 1960’s sci-fi movie space station. 

Gordon and Alan were the first ones to run forward and throw themselves in but the birthday boy wasn't far behind. You would never have thought the group attempting to race each other across the space were professional rescue operatives but sometimes even the most responsible in society needed to let their hair down. Gordon even managed a passable butterfly stroke across the ocean of balls.

John stood on the sidelines, watching quietly as Scott dived in, towing a protesting Kayo, to join his brothers as they had fun, but that was enough for him, he might be at the party, but it really wasn't his scene. 

WHUMP! Something landed on his back with the force of a truck, her arms and legs wrapping around him as Selene launched herself at him like a monkey, the force of their combined weight tipping them into the ball pit face first. 

******

It was an exhausted and slightly tipsy bunch that made their way up to the main house from the hangars later that night. Only the designated pilots for the night had stayed dry and the GDF had been told in no uncertain terms that International Rescue was off the clock for all but the most serious space rescues, Alan having been one of those sticking to soda.

“Anyone want anything before we head to bed?” Grandma asked. They all shook their heads, even if they hadn't eaten their fill they still wouldn't want to ruin the night by eating anything she produced.

“Wait, we can’t go to bed yet!” Alan yelped as he suddenly remembered one very important thing, halting everyone in their tracks where they had begun to move towards their parts of the house.

“Why?” Scott asked, yawning.

“Virgil hasn’t opened his gifts yet.”

“It’s okay, Allie, I’ll open them tomorrow.”

“No, it’s your birthday, you need to open them on the day,” he insisted.

“Technically it’s not his birthday anymore,” John said, checking his comm.

“It is until we sleep,” Alan declared. “Please, Virg?”

Virgil never could resist the puppy dog eyes of his youngest brother. “Lead the way.”

They all trooped dutifully to the lounge, unwilling to argue with or disappoint Alan.

Virgil took a seat on the couches and waited as each person delivered their gift to him, as was their custom.

He unwrapped what they all called his joke presents first, each brother giving him a new plaid identical to the one he always wore. It had started before they moved to the island when, quite by accident, they had all ended up buying him a new shirt. Now they did it every year, so he never ran out of them.

Scott then presented him with a bonsai tree for his studio, one with a dense covering of leaves so he could practice his topiary in a place that no one could destroy it.

Brains gave him the plans for new modifications to his exosuit, stating that he thought he would appreciate something practical as a gift rather than anything store bought.

Gordon and Alan had banded together to buy him an artist’s case with slide out legs that could store all his travel supplies but when you opened the lid there was an easel inside, meaning he wouldn't have to carry both with him to paint around the Island.

Kayo gave him a subscription to coffee king weekly, a service that selected a different specialist coffee every week for him to sample.

Grandma had a fresh selection of paints and pigments for him. After his lesson in Paris she knew he would be full of inspiration and the last thing he needed was for his creativity to be thwarted by lack of supplies.

Penelope had commissioned a piece of music from a young, up and coming composer that she was acting as patron to through one of her charities. Parker had followed up with a case of craft ale from a small brewery in Foxleyheath that he guaranteed would ‘blow ‘yer ‘ead orf’.

Virgil unwrapped his last gift, a bronze casting of a sculpture he had made when he had dabbled in clay. It was one of the few sculpts he has been truly pleased with and the appearance of the bronze explained the recent absence of the original from his studio. He set it aside, smiling happily at his father who had commissioned the piece.

“Thank you all so much, this has been one of the best birthdays ever and I'd love to stay and chat but we’re really tired, since we started the day in a european timezone, so if you don’t mind, we’re going to head to bed.”

“Wait a second,” Gordon piped up. “You haven’t had anything from John and Selene.”

“I think they did enough in helping organise the party,” Virgil smiled. “I don’t expect anything else.”

“Too late,” Selene grinned. She nudged John, who hauled himself to his feet. “Wait there, we’ll be right back.”

Selene towed his brother out of the room, dragging him by the hand.

“Do I even want to know?” Virgil joked as everyone stared after them, wondering what the hell they could have that couldn't have been added to the pile that had adorned his piano when he’d entered the room.

Virgil’s eyes grew wide as the two of them returned, carrying a large, relatively flat, square box between them. They placed it carefully on the floor just outside of the seating circle and stepped aside.

“Open it,” John instructed though he hadn’t really needed to, Virgil was already moving towards it. 

He lifted the lid off, frowning when he was greeted by mounds of shredded paper and straw. Since single use plastic had been phased out and then banned altogether, people had returned to more old fashioned ways of packaging delicate things for shipping and he had a good idea what this might be, having used the same method himself. 

He gently pushed aside some of the straw, his suspicions confirmed when he saw the corner of a canvas poking out. Excited now, always happy to own more beautiful, inspirational art he fished around and found the other corner, using it to tug the painting out of its bedding.

His breath caught in his throat as his eyes roamed the canvas, taking in the delicate brush strokes, the subtle use of colours, the way they all blended together to create a scene that he knew so well already even though he was seeing it in this form for the first time.

There, in his hands, was a perfect, almost photo realistic image of Gran Roca Ranch at sunset, the light depicted in beautiful reds, vibrant oranges and subtle yellows that seemed to sparkle off the roof of the building, the same sunlight that kissed the mountains behind the ranch, making them look almost like they were on fire. It was beautiful, almost magical, but, most magical of all, were the two tiny letters in the bottom left hand corner, in exactly the same place he signed his paintings, the initials L.T.

He dragged his eyes away from the painting to his brother’s face. John had one arm around Selene’s shoulders, her arm was around his waist and both were watching him expectantly with identical worried expressions on their faces.

“Do you like it?” John finally asked, worried by Virgil's shocked silence.

Carefully, Virgil set the precious painting down on the table, closing the space between him and John in three quick strides. Selene, sensitive as ever to their moods, ducked out from under John’s arm, stepping aside just in time for Virgil to catch his brother in a breath stealing bear hug.

“Virg?” Scott asked, his voice betraying his confusion and sudden worry for his brother. 

“Take a look,” Virgil instructed, his voice soft, not lifting his head off of John’s shoulder, his arms still wrapped tight around him. 

It was Scott’s turn to be rendered speechless as he gently, reverently, picked up the painting to study it.

“Where on earth did you find this?” Jeff asked, having come over to see what all the fuss was about.

“I saw it in a client's hallway,” Selene answered for them as John was busy with the hug monster. “I asked about it and she said that she bought it a few years ago, she had no clue who had painted it, but had liked it, it apparently matched the theme of the hall. I made her an offer, she was reluctant at first but I doubled it and then threw in a free natal chart and brought it home.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. "Plus, I might have told her it was cursed and bringing her bad fortune, so I'd take it away and look after it for her. No shame."

Scott snorted in amusement, but his eyes were still on the painting. 

“I remember her painting this,” Jeff mused, sitting down on the couch beside Alan and Gordon, allowing them to examine it too, expressions of wonder on their faces. “Scott was less than a year old and she wanted to try a new hobby, wanted something to pass the evenings when I was on a mission. She started gifting them to people, not believing they would be worth anything, just nice little keepsakes.” He smiled, deep in his reminiscing, the tip of his pinky stroking lightly over the paint, feeling the texture of the strokes. “As with everything she did she was a natural at it and it wasn’t long before she made her first sale. I remember how happy she was when she told me. This was one of her first, I think she sent it to her college roommate, she was a bridesmaid at our wedding. I never thought I’d see it again.”

“Virgil, I think you should let John go now so he can breath,” Grandma suggested gently, noticing how John was rather ineffectively patting Virgil’s back.

Finally Virgil stepped back, releasing his brother only to hone in on Selene and grab her for the same treatment. She was less stoic than John, flailing in surprise for a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back just as hard, staying that way until John stepped in to rescue her.

VIrgil’s eyes were shining with emotion as he stepped back down into the circle to look at the painting once again.

“I think we should put it up somewhere we can all see it,” he declared to which everyone agreed.

They chatted for a little while longer, reminiscing over past birthdays and family days until their subtle yawns became jaw crackers and they all said their goodnights, wishing him a happy birthday once again, leaving him and Claire alone. 

******

Selene flopped face first on the bed, still fully clothed. She was exhausted, planning things did that to her, left her stressed and tired and in need of a vacation. But, she supposed, it had all been worth it to see how happy Virgil had felt, how loved and appreciated. 

"Shouldn't you at least take your boots off?" John's voice broke through her tired musings. How could he still be functioning on such a level when she was too tired to even move? Well, if he wanted her stripped he could do it himself. 

Selene groaned, rolling tiredly over onto her back. She lifted a leg, pointed it in his direction and wiggled it in silent demand. 

John did his duty, unlacing her boots and sliding them off first one foot then the other, placing them neatly in her wardrobe. She wiggled again and he took the hint, grabbing the cuffs of her jeans and yanking them down her legs. 

"You need to move, you know you hate to sleep in your bra," he reminded her, stripping off his shirt and jeans and draping them over a chair. 

"You do it," she mumbled, eyes closed. "I want to sleep."

"I remember the days when you demanded I take your bra off because you didn't want to sleep," he moaned good naturedly as he dragged her into a sitting position and whipped her top off over her head. "What's become of us?" 

"I'm old," she huffed, flopping forward so he could flick the clasp open, dropping back down so he could tug the straps down her arms and toss it on the chair with his clothes. "And tired."

"Do you want a sleep shirt?" 

She shook her head. "No, you keep me warm instead."

"Demoted to nothing but a bed warmer," he mock sighed as he climbed into bed beside her. She rolled closer, snuggling against his side, her head on his chest and arm around his waist. 

"You're much more than my bed warmer," she promised him, her words sounding more drowsy by the second. 

"I'm glad to hear it." 

"Did you have a good time at the party?" she nuzzled his chin as she settled, getting comfortable. 

"More than I thought I would," he admitted. "Although I could have done without your rather unorthodox way of making me join you in the ball pit, but, overall, it wasn't so bad, at least it was all people I knew. And thank you for bullying us all into doing our assigned jobs, we needed all the help we could get."

The expected snort of agreement or sharp tongued comment never came, for once she was silent. He glanced down, not in the least surprised to find her fast asleep. He smiled, kissing the top of her head. She had definitely earnt her rest. 

******

Virgil and Claire sat for a few minutes longer in the deserted lounge, basking in the deep silence that would envelop a room once the wider mass of Hurricane Tracy had departed. Sometimes just the connection of being next to each other was enough, Claire’s head resting on his chest with a comforting arm draped over her shoulder, listening to the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat.

The rise and fall of the chest beneath her became deeper and slower and Claire knew they both risked falling asleep on the couch if they didn’t move soon. She dragged herself upright and out from under the warm arm that could so easily have become her blanket for the night.

“Come on, you’ve crammed at least 60 hours into the last two days.”

“And who’s fault is that?” he grunted, settling down deeper into the seat. “You’re the one who chose something the other side of the world for my present.” 

“Any complaints about that?”

“None at all, it was perfect. Now if you could just invent a way of teleporting me to bed that would be even better.”

“No can do, I’m a chemist not a miracle worker, you’re going to have to get yourself moving.”

“Spoilsport” he pouted, shifting himself upright with a groan. “Come on then, bed time, Scott will have my ass back on rotation before I know it and I’m in no fit state to fly at the moment.”

The pair tiptoed along the corridor through the sleeping quarters, past rooms that were already silent with sleep or rumbled with the gentle snores of a Tracy dead to the world. Only John’s room still showed a light peeking out through the gap underneath the door but that too clicked off as they passed by.

Gaining the sanctuary of Virgil’s room they fell into the familiar routine of working round each other until both were ready for bed. Claire still had her own room, allocated when she first visited the island, but it mostly now got used if Virgil was out on a rescue or if she got caught up in the labs and didn’t want to disturb his sleep. Both had a healthy respect for the other’s need for space and rest but now, more often than not if circumstances allowed, the couple gravitated towards the same sleeping space. Selene had cheekily pointed out that the Round House would be free that night if they wanted to continue the celebrations without disturbing anyone but in all honesty all they wanted to do was sleep. 

They fell into bed with a thud, Claire curling up in her habitual position, head on Virgil’s shoulder with an arm draped across his stomach.

“Thank you” he murmured into the darkness, wrapping his arms around her, too tired for further words or actions. He felt an answering squeeze, acknowledgement for all that was left unsaid between them, simpered platitudes or gushing declarations of love had never really been their style after all.

As the clock ticked closer to morning the final room gave in to the heavy sleep of the exhausted, the celebrations over for another year (or at least until October if anyone could pin John down long enough for a party).


End file.
